Xibalbaonyx oviceps, a new megalonychid ground sloth (Folivora, Xenarthra) from the Late Pleistocene of the Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico, and its paleobiogeographic significance

Stinnesbeck, Sarah R.; Frey, Eberhard; Olguín, Jerónimo Avilés; Stinnesbeck, Wolfgang; Zell, Patrick; Mallison, Heinrich; González, Arturo Hernández; Núñez, Eugenio Aceves; Morlet, Adriana Velázquez; Mata, Alejandro Terrazas; Sanvicente, Martha Benavente; Hering, Fabio; Sandoval, Carmen Rojas

doi:10.1007/s12542-017-0349-5

Cited by 27 publications

(38 citation statements)

References 46 publications

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“…We recently presented a spectacular example for these subaqueous speleothems termed Hells Bells from El Zapote sinkhole about 26 km west of Puerto Morelos on the Yucatán Peninsula of southern Mexico (Fig. 1) (Stinnesbeck et al, 2017b).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…2). Apparently, they form in a lightless environment in freshwater above the anoxic and sulfidic halocline (Stinnesbeck et al, 2017b). Because of these environmental conditions which include complete darkness, the local diving community has termed the El Zapote speleothem formations as Hells Bells.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…They grow from the cavern ceiling and wall. Additionally, small individuals also cover a tree that has fallen into the sinkhole around ∼ 3.5 ka cal BP, which indicates that Hells Bells must have formed during the Holocene and thus at periods when the deep sections of the cenote had already been submerged for thousands of years (Stinnesbeck et al, 2017b). Thus, the conditions for the formation of the biggest underwater speleothems worldwide must have existed consistently throughout the past thousands of years at El Zapote cenote.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Subaqueous speleothems (Hells Bells) formed by the interplay of pelagic redoxcline biogeochemistry and specific hydraulic conditions in the El Zapote sinkhole, Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico

et al. 2019

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Abstract. Unique bell-shaped underwater speleothems were recently reported from the deep (∼ 55 m) meromictic El Zapote sinkhole (cenote) on the Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico. The local diving community has termed these speleothems as Hells Bells because of their shape and appearance in a dark environment in ∼ 28–38 m water depth above a sulfidic halocline. It was also suggested that Hells Bells form under water, yet the mystery of their formation remained unresolved. Therefore, we conducted detailed hydrogeochemical and geochemical analyses of the water column and Hells Bells speleothems including stable carbon isotopes. Based on the comprehensive results presented in this study we deduce that both biogeochemical processes in the pelagic redoxcline and a dynamic halocline elevation of El Zapote cenote are essential for Hells Bells formation. Hells Bells most likely form in the redoxcline, a narrow 1–2 m thick water layer immediately above the halocline where a pelagic chemolithoautotrophic microbial community thrives from the upward diffusion of reduced carbon, nitrogen and sulfur species released from organic matter degradation in organic-rich debris. We hypothesize that chemolithoautotrophy, in particular proton-consuming nitrate-driven anaerobic sulfide oxidation, favors calcite precipitation in the redoxcline and hence Hells Bells formation. A dynamic elevation of the halocline as a hydraulic response to droughts, annual tidal variability and recharge events is further discussed, which might explain the shape of Hells Bells as well as their occurrence over a range of 10 m water depth. Finally, we infer that highly stagnant conditions, i.e., a thick halocline, a low-light environment and sufficient input of organic material into a deep meromictic cenote are apparent prerequisites for Hells Bells formation. This might explain their exclusivity to only a few cenotes in a restricted area of the northeastern Yucatán Peninsula.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Subaqueous speleothems (Hells Bells) formed by the interplay of pelagic redoxcline biogeochemistry and specific hydraulic conditions in the El Zapote sinkhole, Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico

et al. 2019

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“…New discoveries from submerged caves in the Yucatán are changing this, bringing to light an underworld of exquisitely preserved fossils from the late Pleistocene, when sea level and the water table were significantly lower during glaciations. Publications on these underwater discoveries have focused on early human skeletons [16,17], new mammalian genera (two ground sloths and a peccary) [18][19][20] and a new species interpreted to be a jaguar-like cat [21].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Yucatán carnivorans shed light on the Great American Biotic Interchange

Schubert

Chatters²,

Arroyo-Cabrales³

et al. 2019

Biol. Lett.

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The Great American Biotic Interchange is considered to be a punctuated process, primarily occurring during four major pulses that began approximately 2.5 Ma. Central America and southeastern Mexico have a poor fossil record of this dynamic faunal history due to tropical climates. Exploration of submerged caves in the Yucatán, particularly the natural trap Hoyo Negro, is exposing a rich and remarkably well-preserved late Pleistocene fauna. Radiometric dates on megafauna range from approximately 38 400–12 850 cal BP, and extinct species include the ursid Arctotherium wingei and canid Protocyon troglodytes . Both genera were previously thought to be indigenous to and confined to South America and appear to represent an instance of large placental mammals, descended from North American progenitors, migrating back north across the Panama Isthmus. This discovery expands the distribution of these carnivorans greater than 2000 km outside South America. Their presence along with a diverse sloth assemblage suggests a more complex history of these organisms in Middle America. We suggest that landscape and ecological changes caused by latest Pleistocene glaciation supported an interchange pulse that included A. wingei , P. troglodytes and Homo sapiens .

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“…During the past decade, seven human skeletal remains dating back to the latest Pleistocene and earliest Holocene, 13–8 ka bp, were discovered during diving activities in the submerged cave system and sinkholes (cenotes) on the north‐eastern Yucatán Peninsula (YP; González González et al ., , ; Chatters et al ., ; Stinnesbeck et al ., ). In addition, fossil bones and complete and articulated skeletons of coeval mammals were reported (González González et al ., ; Chatters et al ., ; McDonald et al ., ; Stinnesbeck et al ., , ). These discoveries have been made in Quintana Roo, Mexico, in a 20‐km‐long and up to 11‐km‐wide coastal band between Tulum in the south and Playa del Carmen in the north (Fig.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Chan Hol cave near Tulum (Quintana Roo, Mexico): evidence for long‐lasting human presence during the early to middle Holocene

Hering

Stinnesbeck

Folmeister

et al. 2018

J Quaternary Science

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Numerous charcoal accumulations discovered in the submerged Chan Hol cave near Tulum, Quintana Roo, Mexico, have been 14C‐dated revealing ages between 8110 ± 28 14C a BP (9122–8999 cal a BP) and 7177 ± 27 14C a BP (8027–7951 cal a BP). These charcoal concentrations, interpreted here as ancient illumination sites, provide strong evidence that the Chan Hol cave was dry and accessible during that time interval. Humans used the cave for at least 1200 years during the early and middle Holocene, before access was successively interrupted by global sea level rise and flooding of the cave system. Our data thus narrow the gap between an early settlement in the Tulum area reaching from the late Pleistocene (∼13 000 a) to middle Holocene (e.g. 7177 14C a BP), and the Maya Formative period at approximately 3000 a bp. Yet, no evidence has been presented to date for human settlement during the ∼4000‐year interval between 7000 and 3000 a. This is remarkable as settlement in other areas of south‐eastern Mexico (e.g. Chiapas, Tabasco) and in Guatemala was apparently continuous.

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Xibalbaonyx oviceps, a new megalonychid ground sloth (Folivora, Xenarthra) from the Late Pleistocene of the Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico, and its paleobiogeographic significance

Cited by 27 publications

References 46 publications

Subaqueous speleothems (Hells Bells) formed by the interplay of pelagic redoxcline biogeochemistry and specific hydraulic conditions in the El Zapote sinkhole, Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico

Subaqueous speleothems (Hells Bells) formed by the interplay of pelagic redoxcline biogeochemistry and specific hydraulic conditions in the El Zapote sinkhole, Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico

Yucatán carnivorans shed light on the Great American Biotic Interchange

The Chan Hol cave near Tulum (Quintana Roo, Mexico): evidence for long‐lasting human presence during the early to middle Holocene

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